A 20-year-old sandwich shop worker was stabbed outside a Winston-Salem restaurant early Sunday after he tried to get an unruly customer to leave, according to police. The victim, identified as Ibrahim Alku, was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries following the attack at Istanbul Gyro & Burger on West 4th Street.
According to the Charlotte Observer, the incident happened around 1:20 a.m. Sunday, while ABC45 reported that Winston-Salem police responded at 1:21 a.m. that same morning to a reported assault and stabbing at the business, located at 216 W. Fourth St. Winston-Salem sits about an 80-mile drive northeast of uptown Charlotte.
Fight Inside Spills Onto the Street
Police said the trouble began when patron La’Nautica King, 26, initiated an altercation with restaurant personnel, assaulting a staff member and damaging property inside the business, per a police news release cited by the Charlotte Observer. Alku then tried to make King leave, but the altercation proceeded outside the business rather than ending there.
That's when another patron, Nautica Davis, 20, stabbed Alku, according to the police account. Court documents reviewed by the newspaper indicate Alku was also punched in the face and spit on during the confrontation. Police said he was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and an arrest warrant identified the weapon used as a pocket knife.
Charges Filed Against Both Women
Davis was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, per the same police account. Both the Charlotte Observer and ABC45 reported that Davis also faces disorderly conduct, simple affray, and carrying a concealed weapon.
King was also arrested, facing charges of simple assault, disorderly conduct, and injury to personal property, police said. The station's report and the newspaper's account both frame King and Davis as the two suspects identified in the fight, with officials saying the confrontation escalated from a dispute inside the restaurant into a stabbing on the street outside.
No further details on the shop's response or any court proceedings have been reported.
